Single-rail elevated railway



(No Model.) J. N. VALLEY. SINGLE BAIL ELEVATED RAILWAY.

No. 419,739. Patented Jan. 21, 1890.

WITNESSES:

N PETERS. Pholo-Lmwgraphen Wilhillglon. D.C.

p UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN N. VALLEY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEW JERSEY.

SINGLE-RA! L ELfEVATED RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 419,739, dated January21, 1890.

I Application filed April 15, 1889- Serial No. 307,367. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JOHN NAPOLEON VAL- LEY, residing at Jersey City,county of Hudson, and State of New Jersey, have invented a new anduseful Improvement in Single-Rail Elevated Railways, ofwhich thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of my invention is to provide an improvement in that class ofelevated passenger and freight railways in which the cars run on asingle rail secured to vertical supporting-posts. In railways of thisclass the rail is usually laid flat on a timber extending lengthwise ofthe roadway; but in some cases the rail is attached to the posts bymeans of angle-plates, which are bolted to the respective parts. Idispense with the lengthwise timber or beam above referred to and employa series of independent rails, which are unsupported, save at theirends, where they are so attached to a series of independent hangershaving horizontal arms as to secure a continuous track. The abuttingends of the rails have lateral flat perforated projections orlugs, whichare laid flaton the corresponding portions of the hanger-arms and boltedin place. The hangers are also spaced or held rigidly by means ofaligned rods that combine the functions of a tension and brace. Thehanger is peculiarly constructed with a view to strength and economy ofmaterial.

Figure 1 is a perspective view showing a section of a complete railwayembodying my invention. Fig. 2is an enlarged vertical section on line 22, Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a perspective view of my improved hanger. Fig. 2 isa horizontal section on line 2 of Fig. 2.

The vertical posts A are arranged in pairs at such distance apart as maybe required by the width of the cars that may run on the railway or thekind of traffic for which they are employed.

Each pair of posts supports a horizontal cross-beam B, and a singlehanger O is secured to the under side of each beam, as shown. The saidcross-beams B are placed about twenty feet apart, that being the lengthof the I rails D, which I have found preferable in practice.

The form and construction of the hanger are best shown in Fig. 3. It isconstructed of a flat wrought-iron or steel plate whose upper end isslit lengthwise, the two portions ct thus I divided being then bentlaterally in opposite directions and perforated to receive the bolts,Figs. 1 and 2, which secure the hangers to the beams B. The lower end ofthe hanger O is bent laterally to form a broad horizontal arm 12, whichfurnishes a suitable bed or support for the correspondingly-shaped endsof the rails D. The latter are formed of iron rods about one inch inthickness, and having at each end a lateral fiat perforated projectionor lug c, Fig. 2. The rails are laid on the arms I) of the hangers (l,with their ends abutting, and the said lugs c resting flat on said armsand secured in such position by means of screw-bolts d, passingvertically through the lugs c and arms I), as shown. It will be noted,further, that the outer side of the rails D is flush with the outer edgeof the arms b for better security of the connection and to avoid anyleverage of the rail on the bolt and arm when a car is passing over it.

I11 order to hold the several hangers O rigidly spaced apart and tofurther counteract the tendency of the rails D to sag or bend downwardunder a heavy load, I employ combined tension and brace rods E, whichare made of the same length as the rails D and bolted at their ends tothe back and lower ends of contiguous hangers. Thus the rods E arealigned with each other and parallel to the rails, as shown, yet do notinterfere with the wheels that run on the rails,nor with the carssuspended beneath.

By the construction and combination of parts above described I provideat minimum cost a single-rail railway, which is composed of a minimumnumber of parts connected in a strong, simple, and durable manner.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In an elevated railway, the combination, with a series of independenthangers placed a suitable distance apart and each having a flathorizontal arm, as shown, of a series of independent and self-supportingrails which connect said hangers and have lateral lugs that rest flat onsaid arms and are secured thereto, substantially as and for the purposespecified.

2. The improved elevated railway herein IOO before described, consistingof the following parts: as'eriesof cross-beams and posts for supportingthem, a series of independent hangers secured to and pendent from saidbeams and having at their lower ends broad horizontal arms, asspecified, a series of aligned independent and self-supporting railswhose ends abut and are provided with lateral flat lugs which rest flaton the said arms of the hangers, and bolts passing through said lugs andarms for securing them together, as shown and described, for the purposespeci- 3. The combination, with the spaced hangers and the aligned railssecured thereto, of

the combined tension and brace rods which are attached to said hangerson the rear side opposite the rails and secured thereto with their endsabutting, as shown and described. 4. The improved hanger constructed ofa single plate of wrought metal having perforated divergent horizontalflanges at the top and its lower bent end extending laterally, thusforming a flat horizontal arm which is perforated to receive therail-bolts, as shown and described.

J. N. VALLEY.

Witnesses:

AMos W. HART, J. H. VALLEY.

